Cooktop appliances typically can include a variety of configurations. As an example, cooktop appliances may use a glass and/or ceramic-glass cooking panel for supporting cooking utensils. For such cooktop appliances, the heating sources can include, e.g., radiant, induction, and gas on glass. A variety of controls can be provided for the heating sources such as, e.g., traditional rotatable knobs and/or electronic types that rely on sensitivity to a user's touch. These controls may be provided as part of a user interface assembly for controlling various operations of the cooktop appliance. Similarly, other appliances, such as, e.g., washing machine appliances, refrigerator appliances, and the like, may use user interface assemblies for controlling various operations of the appliance.
Such user interface assemblies may use a variety of lighted text, digits, symbols, and/or other features to display information to a user of the appliance on the surface of the appliance. For example, in cooktop appliances, the upper surface of the cooking panel may include a user interface area where the controls are located, as well as where information, such as, e.g., whether a heating element is activated or at what heat level a heating element is set, may be displayed to the user using lighted text, digits, and/or symbols. Some user interface assemblies display such information on a generally clear or translucent substrate, which is painted or coated to provide a background for the lighted text, digits, symbols, and/or other features and to hide from the user's view the internal components of the user interface and/or components of the appliance. Openings in the paint or coating applied to the substrate allow light to pass through the user interface area to illuminate the text, digits, symbols, and/or other features that provide information to the user.
Because no paint or coating is applied in the openings, the background is disrupted in these areas, and the components positioned behind or below the substrate may be visible to the user when no light is passing through the openings. The disruption of the background and/or the visibility of the components may be unattractive or distracting to users of the appliance. That is, consumers may prefer that the user interface is consistent or uniform in color and appearance when the text, digits, symbols, and/or other features are not illuminated. However, the text, digits, symbols, and/or other features of the user interface should be clearly and easily visible to the user when the features are illuminated. A commonly used term for this sort of user interface behavior, that is, obscuring or hiding features when the appliance or features are in an off-state so as to present a seemingly contiguous surface, is “Dead Front.”
Accordingly, an appliance configured to provide an essentially uniform and/or contiguous user interface when features of the user interface are not illuminated would be beneficial. An appliance further configured to provide a user interface with clearly visible illuminated features also would be useful. A user interface assembly configured to provide clearly visible features when the features are illuminated but appear substantially uniform when the features are not illuminated would be advantageous.